Wells and Chase Duke it Out

Wells Fargo and Chase traded positions as the industry leader in originations as new purchase mortgage originations edged up in the second quarter.

Wells Fargo maintained its standing as the biggest residential lender in the country. A distant second was JPMorgan Chase, while Bank of America regained its No. 3 ranking after falling behind Quicken Loans in the first quarter.

However, initial indications are that the current quarter’s production is on track for a decline according to Mortgage Daily.

Home loans funded by U.S. lenders totaled an estimated $502billion during the second quarter, according to Mortgage Daily’s Mortgage Lender Ranking. The estimate was based on earnings data, publicly disclosed statistics and a quarterly survey conducted by the trade publication.

Overall activity increased around 2% from the first quarter. Compared to the second-quarter 2012, production has risen more than 8%.

Walter Mortgage soared to $4.7 billion from the first quarter’s $0.4 billion — the biggest percentage gain of all lenders tracked.

Production at Nationstar Mortgage more than doubled from the first quarter — the second-best quarter-over-quarter performance of any top lender.

The biggest quarter-over-quarter loss was suffered by Ocwen Financial.

Nationstar’s business nearly quadrupled from the second-quarter 2012, the best year-over-year improvement.

With a 250% increase, Stonegate Mortgage delivered the second-largest increase from the year-earlier period.

United Shore followed with a 156% ascension, then 154% at PennyMac.

Based on the Mortgage Market Index from LoanSifter and Mortgage Daily, third-quarter originations from all lenders are likely to decline by around 22%.

Wells Fargo held on to its top-servicer standing, and BofA relinquished its No. 2 rank to Chase.